Auction News Network

Orlando’s Bow & Titanic Dress Score Big Prices

There were a number of solid bulls-eyes at Profiles in History’s Hollywood auction this week, led by the bow Orlando used in “The Lord of the Rings,” which shot past its estimate to $372,000.  Only slightly less valuable was a dress Kate Winslett wore during her attempt to jump overboard in “Titanic.” It, too, flew past its estimate to S330,000.

Was Louis Armstrong Her Dad? Letters To Be Sold Suggest, Yes

In his four marriages and myriad affairs, jazz great Louis Armstrong produced no children. Except perhaps, it turns out, one. A Florida woman named Sharon Preston-Folta has come forward with a collection of letters from Armstrong that show, at the very least, that Armstrong believed he was her father. California-based Profiles in History will offer them in an online and phone auction on December 14^th, when they’re expected to sell for as much as $80,000.

Remarkable Collection Of Historical Manuscripts in N.Y. Sale

“Disease,” Vincent Van Gogh wrote in a letter shortly before his death, ”exists to remind us we are not made of wood.” That manuscript, as well as some 3000 others, is part of an extraordinary collection that Profiles In History will auction on December 18^th in New York. A rare autograph manuscript by Thomas Jefferson, “My Friends and Children Chiefs of the Cherokee Nation” leads the sale, a virtual stroll through western history, science and culture. Dated January 10, 1806 and signed “Th. Jefferson,” the document is estimated at $300,000-$500,000.

Update: Van Gogh’s letter sold for $280,000, just below its $300,000 high estimate.

Lennon & Clapton: What Might Have Been

After the Beatles disbanded, John Lennon wrote musician Eric Clapton to, urge him to consider joining him in a new band with Yoko Ono. Next month Profiles in History will offer the handwritten letter, in which Lennon expresses his admiration for Clapton and suggests he could “bring out something great” in his music. The document, dated September 29, 1971, is expected to bring $20,000-$30,000 at the Los Angeles sale, which also features examples of correspondence from Beethoven, George Gershwin, Cole Porter and Louis Armstrong.

Steve McQueen’s “Le Mans” Watch Sells For Nearly $800,000

After Steve McQueen chose the Tag Heuer Monaco to wear in the racing film “Le Mans,” it became an instant favorite.  With its square shape, blue face, and black alligator band, it carried with it both the allure of motor racing and the star’s distinctive style. Yesterday at an auction in Los Angeles, McQueen’s iconic watch sold for nearly $800,000, which was more than twice its $300,000 high estimate.

Liz Taylor’s Cleopatra Dressing Room For Sale

Forget the dresses, now they’re selling the dressing room 20th Century Fox spared no expense in building for Elizabeth Taylor to make her feel like the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra. In an orgy of extravagance, it’s estimated the trailer cost $500,000 to construct in today’s dollars. The high estimate at next week’s Profiles in History auction is $75,000.

Price For Marilyn’s Dress Soars

The price blew up from high to astronomical over the weekend when Marilyn Monroe’s “Subway Dress” sold for a total of $5.5m. The buyer remained anonymous at the Beverly Hills auction staged to begin selling Debbie Reynolds’ vast costume collection. Cinephiles will recall in“The Seven Year Itch” where the oh-so innocently unaware Marilyn stood over the updraft of a subway grate as her dress soared and she cooed, “Isn’t it delicious?”

“Lucy In The Sky” Lyrics Soar To $230,000

John Lennon”s handwritten lyrics for the Beatles’ classic “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” sold for a celestial $230,000 this past weekend at Profiles in History’s auction of Hollywood memorabilia. A bit more earthbound was the $805,000 paid for the only roadworthy version of the car from “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.” The car had rolled into the sale with a low estimate of $1m.

Debbie Reynolds To Sell Vast Hollywood Collection

Over a fifty-year period Debbie Reynolds has assembled an immense collection of over 3,500 Hollywood costumes, several thousand movie posters, 20,000 photographs, as well as costume sketches and props. For a while she planned to open a museum, but now—in a series of auctions beginning in June– she’s decided to sell them in what Los Angeles-based Profiles in History is calling “the most significant collection of Hollywood costumes and props since the liquidation of the MGM and Fox studios in the 1970’s.”

John Lennon’s “Lucy In The Sky” Lyrics To Sell

When the Beatles released “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” it was widely speculated that the song was about LSD.  John Lennon denied it, suggesting instead that he’d been inspired by his son Julian’s painting of a classmate. Next month Lennon’s handwritten lyrics to the famous Sgt. Pepper song will be auctioned in Los Angeles, where they’re expected to sell for at least $200,000.

Update: the handwritten lyrics sold for $230,000.